Stalbridge Church of England Primary School

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June 2016

Monday 20th June 2016
Dear Parents and carers,

We have reached the last summer term of the year! I hope you have all received class newsletters giving you some prior information already. This letter should give you all the information you need for the rest of this term. If you do have any questions, comments or queries, please do come in and see us.

Young Enterprise - Year 6
Our Year 6 children are putting all their business skills to good use this term. They have been working together to find a way to run a small enterprise to create a revenue. They will run a stall every Thursday after school, with activities and things to buy. They raised a fantastic £70.00 profit this week. Don't forget to bring your spending money each Thursday.

Swimming
Swimming lessons and clubs are running well. We have been unfortunate with the weather so far, though we aim to swim as often as we can. Despite the heavy rain, which can cause children to feel cold, we have all done well. Where trips occur, we will try our best to add in another session. Thank you very much to all the parents who have been able to help with swimming. If you still need to make a payment, you can do so through the office.

Grandparents in school morning Tuesday 28th June
Children will be inviting their grandparents into school for the morning on the above date. The children can share their work and take their grandparents on a tour of the school. We know that some grandparents attended this school when they were younger. It's always fascinating to go back in time and visit your old school. We would like to hear of your stories of Stalbridge Primary School on this morning, too. If you have any photos or information, we would love to see them.
A letter will follow, providing the structure of the morning and an individual invitation. Please let us know on the return slip if there are access needs that we need to be aware of.

Playtimes and lunchtimes
We asked the children what their views were on playtimes and lunchtimes. The children love to play sports though also wanted some role play resources. We are delighted with the donations which we have received from our families. Children have telephones, keyboards, cooking toys, writing and drawing resources to play with. We have seen more communication between year groups and overall happier children. Many thanks.

Sports Day Thursday 23rd June 1.15pm
We are hoping for better weather next week. We will be starting sports day at 1.15 prompt. You are welcome to come in from 1.00pm to take your seats. We are all getting excited and practising our running, jumping and throwing. Although we like to give out all medals at the end of the day, we will try and speed this up so that there is less sitting around for the children. Please see the paragraph below regarding parking. Please use the Hub car park to avoid difficulties.

The PTA has kindly agreed to run our summer fete straight after sports day. There will be lots of stalls and refreshments too. Please note that the children will need to go back to their classes and collect their belongings before they can meet you for the fete.
Parking near the school
We know that parking is severely limited around our school and that this can cause difficulties for families. Recently, I met with a number of residents who live in Woodmills Close, who wanted to ask for a more considerate approach to parking. Please bear the residents in mind. Please do consider the Hub as a parking alternative; I know lots of parents already do so. We will be asking for the local policing team to help us resolve this issue.

Transfer day and new classes
Our transfer day is on Thursday 7th July 2016. During the day, the children will spend time in their new classes with their new class teacher and teaching assistant. We are very pleased to welcome Mr Barnett, who will be joining our teaching team.

Here are the teaching teams for next year:

Class

Teacher

Teaching Assistant/s

Reception

Mrs Jones (& Maternity cover*)

Mrs Matthews
Mrs Pain and Mrs Chant pm

Year 1

Mrs Brown (Senco)
and Mrs Cuff

Mrs Strawbridge

Year 2

Mrs Lloyd

Mrs Pain

Year 3

Miss Swaine

Mrs Bollen

Year 4

Mr Tom Barnett

Mrs Bailey

Year 5

Mrs Heidi Padfield (Deputy Headteacher)

Mrs Bartlett

Year 6

Miss Gould
Key Stage 2 leader

Mrs Chant

*We are currently recruiting for a Class teacher to cover Mrs Jones. More news to follow.
New entrants Year R
We look forward to welcoming our youngest pupils to our school on Wednesday 22nd June, Wednesday 29th June and Wednesday 6th July. Sessions start at 2pm and end at 3pm.

Open afternoon for parents Thursday 14th July 3.15- 4.00
You are welcome to come in on the above date. You can come and see your child's work, visit the new class and talk to the teachers. You will be able to take some of the children's books home and the end of the school year. If you cannot make this time, let the office know and we can arrange a different time for you.

School trips
Year 4 are looking forward to their 'Mash up festival' on Friday 8th July. Year 1 & 2 are also out on that day, visiting the beach. Year 5 & 6 will be visiting the Andrew Simpson sailing centre soon.

Reports to parents
We are sending out children's reports on Friday 8th July. You will notice that the format is slightly different this year. The process of pupil assessment has changed greatly this year, so we are trialling this new system and we hope you find it useful.

Helpers in school
We have been very lucky to have so many parents helping in school this year. All teachers and staff would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to those helpers and to express our gratitude for their continued support.

Work Experience students
We welcome five students from the Gryphon school this week. Over the next few weeks, pupils from Sturminster Newton High School will also join us.

Clubs
If you are able, please come and see the gardening efforts of Mrs Brown's gardening club (at the raised bed near the swimming pool). There are lots of vegetables growing at the moment. Please do come and have a look, especially if your child attends the club.
We do try to organise clubs that meet the needs and requests of the children. If you have any suggestions for clubs, we would be pleased to hear them. Thank you to Mr Spiller, who has been running our Multisports club and to Fran Arnold who runs our Athletics club.
PTA
This year, Sarah Pitman and her team of parents and staff, have done a fantastic job of raising funds for our school. Our new outdoor tables, PE mats and other equipment have been paid for through these funds. Thank you to parents too, for all the money that you have donated through these events. On behalf of the school staff and governors, I want to thank the PTA for their hard work and generosity.

Saying goodbye to staff
As the year draws to a close, we will be saying goodbye to Mrs Mandy Jones in Year 3. She has had a very good year with us and moves on to take a Year 3 class at a school in Somerset. We wish her well and thank her for her commitment and dedication to the school.

We will also say goodbye to our lunchtime supervisor, Mrs Broom, who is retiring. She has worked in our school for many years and also volunteers in the classroom with the older children. The staff, governors and children want to acknowledge her service over the years and thank her for her work with so many children in our school. Miss Brown, who already works as a lunchtime supervisor, will take on Mrs Broom's role.

Miss Gould's special day
We wish Miss Gould all the best for her forthcoming wedding in August. When she returns, she will be Mrs Franklin.

I wish everyone a very happy few weeks as we lead up to the summer holiday.
Kind regards

Sarah Lafferty-Jenkins
Headteacher

Here are some dates for this term and some for next:
20/6 - 24/6 Book Fair (each day after school)
21/6 Year 6 Sailing at Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre
21/6 Year 2 Run around Rounders @ William Barnes
22/6 Year 3 Class Assembly
23/6 Church Service 9:10am - all welcome
23/6 Sports Day
23/6 Summer Fete
28/6 Grandparents in School Day (letter to follow)
29/6 Year 5 Sailing at Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre

July
4/7 Year 5/6 Sporting Challenge Day at Sturminster Newton High School
5/7 Year 4 Singing Day (details to follow)
5/7 Year 6 Leavers Service at Salisbury cont'd….
6/7 Year 5 Arts Day @ Sturminster Newton High School
7/7 Church Service 9:10am - all welcome
7/7 Transfer Day
8/7 School Reports out
8/7 Year R/1 Trip to Studland Beach
8/7 Year 4 Trip to Mash up Festival
12/7 KS2 Performance (1:30pm and 6pm)
13/7 KS3 Performance (6pm only)
14/7 Open Afternoon for parents
15/7 PTA School Disco
18/7 Church Service 9:10am - all welcome
18/7 Year 6 Leavers Assembly 2pm
19/7 SCHOOL FINISHES AT 2:30PM